The Emperor's Pearl

The judge guided his horse in a western direction. Miss Liang's information had introduced an entirely new element into the murder cases. He had therefore decided to make one more call before going back to the tribunal.

Arrived at the Temple of Confucius, he halted in front of a neatly plastered, two-storied building across the street. The windows of the ground floor were provided with iron bars, those of the second floor had a row of long spikes all along the sill to prevent thieves from climbing up there. A discreet small signboard over the door bore the name of the shop: 'Treasurehouse of Antiquity '. The judge dismounted and fastened the reins to a stone post, where an awning provided shade for his horse.

The young shop-assistant came to meet him with a broad smile.

'Mr Yang has just come back, sir ! He rode out to a farm where they had dug up an old inscribed stone. He is now in his study upstairs.'

He led Judge Dee along the cupboards crammed with smaller and larger antiques to the staircase at the back.

The spacious room upstairs was artificially cooled by two copper basins on the floor, piled with iceblocks. A diffuse light filtered through the two high windows, covered by paper screens. Faded scroll paintings hung on the wall space in between, and against the side wall stood a rack piled with dog-eared books.

The huge curio-dealer was sitting at a table of polished ebony. Leaning back in his armchair, he was examining a slender vase of red porcelain which he held in his large hands. When his assistant announced the arrival of the magistrate, Yang carefully set the vase down on the table, then quickly got up. He made a low bow, pulled up another armchair to the table and said in his booming voice:

'Your Honour doubtless wants to see that fine painting I mentioned last night ! It'll be found worth an inspection, I trust ! But let me first offer you a cup of tea, sir!'

Judge Dee sat down and accepted a round silk fan from the assistant.

'I shall be grateful for a cup of tea, Mr Yang,' he said, fanning himself, 'but the painting will have to wait till some other time. I dropped in here in order to obtain some information. Confidentially.'

The curio-dealer motioned his assistant to leave them alone. He himself poured out the tea, then he sat back in his chair, looking expectantly at his visitor with his shrewd eyes.

'I am faced with no less than three murders, Mr Yang,' the judge began. 'You know about Tong Mai and the Amber Lady, and you will probably have heard already that this morning Sia Kwang was found murdered too.'

'Sia Kwang? No, I hadn't heard. Just came in, as a matter of fact. Now, I remember that name! Someone told me that a peddler of curios called Sia Kwang associated with all kind of riff-raff, and warned me against having dealings with him. So one of his disreputable friends knifed him, eh?'

'His murder must be connected with the two other crimes. I don't mind telling you that I find myself up against a blank wall. It would greatly help me if I knew a little more about the persons who had relations with the victims, so as to give me at least an idea of the background of those appalling crimes.' He took a sip from his tea, and continued with a smile: 'I have a high opinion, not only of your knowledge of antiques, Mr Yang, but also of your knowledge of your fellow men. Hence I came to you.'

Yang made a bow.

'I feel most flattered, Your Honour! I must stress, how­ever, that, apart from my customers, I don't see much of the townspeople, and hear little of the local gossip. Since my wife died six years ago, and my two sons established their own business down south, I have lived only for my business and for my antiquarian studies. I lead a monk's life more or less, you know! I look after my simple needs myself, don't want clumsy maids around the house who break my best vases! At night no one disturbs me, for my assistant comes in for the day only. This is the kind of life I had always been looking forward to, sir. But it implies that I have lost touch with what is going on in this town!'

'The persons I am interested in are your customers, Mr Yang. What about Dr Pien, for instance?'

Yang emptied his cup, folded his arms and replied:

'Dr Pien collects jade. It stands to reason; old jade is supposed to possess medicinal qualities, hence most physi­cians and pharmacists develop an interest in it. The doctor has a small but fairly representative collection. He uses the pieces for study, he isn't interested in their commercial value at all. In this respect he is quite the opposite of his colleague in the drug business, Mr Kwang Min. Mr Kwang often has very valuable pieces, but he buys those purely as an invest­ment, to be re-sold at the first opportunity. Mr Kwang is a keen businessman, first and foremost! Mr Kou Yuan-liang buys from him occasionally. Not me, his prices are too high.'

'I have met Mr Kwang. I thought he lived in the capital,' Judge Dee remarked.

'He does indeed. But he travels a great deal, and he visits Poo-yang at least every two months or so. But that's con­fidential, sir!'